FHSU Athletics
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Fort Hays State baseball team traded punches and split the season opening doubleheader with Adams State Friday, with the teams combining to score 50 runs across 14 innings. After falling 14-11 in game one, Justin Wichert snagged his first win as FHSU head coach thanks to an Isiah Ural walk-off in game two.
The Tigers racked up four home runs on the day, including two from Emile Boies and one each from Elliott Herrmann and Ed Scott.
The Tigers and Grizzlies will wrap up their four-game series Saturday at Mountain Lion Park beginning at noon (11 a.m. MT).
Game 1 - Adams State 14, Fort Hays State 11
The Tigers struck first with multiple runs in the bottom of the second inning. In his first at-bat as a Tiger, Herrmann launched a shot over the left field wall on a full count to give Fort Hays the early one run advantage. Later with the bases loaded, Joel Nieves kept the rally going with an RBI-single through the left side to plate Boies. The Tigers finished the inning with a three-run lead after a Jenner Kehe sacrifice fly brought in Colter Maldonado.
Adams State came roaring back in top half of the third inning and claimed an 8-3 lead. FHSU spent the next four innings trying to cut into the deficit, eventually working all the way back into a tie game by the bottom of the sixth.
The Tiger offense scored single runs in the third and fourth innings before pushing across two runs in the fifth to close within 9-7. Adams State responded with two runs in the sixth before FHSU scraped together four runs in the home half of the inning to tie things up at 11.
Momentum shifted after the Tigers got two singles from Kehe and Trey DeGarmo to start off the sixth inning rally. Two batters later, Herrmann delivered a two-RBI single to bring the tying run to the plate. Boies lifted a ball out of the yard on the second pitch of his at-bat to tie things up.
Adams State bounced back in the seventh, creating three runs to back on top, 14-11, before retiring the side in order in the home half of the inning to secure the win.
Five FHSU hitters recorded multi-hit games in the opener, including DeGarmo, Herrmann, Boies and Maldonado with two hits each.
Andrew Hansen struck out four batters in 3.0 innings of relief, while Cade Flaherty struck out two of the three batters he faced.
Game 2 - Fort Hays State 13, Adams State 12
The teams continued the offensive explosion in game two, combining for 25 runs for the second game in a row. Each team was kept scoreless in the first inning before both were able to score one run in the second.
Both starting pitchers took control early, with the score sitting at 1-1 at the end of three innings. FHSU's Connor Holle got out of a bases-loaded jam in the third to keep the score tied before ASU pushed across three runs in the top of the fourth.
Fort Hays State came alive in the bottom of the fourth, racking up nine runs to take a commanding 10-4 lead. Mikey Felton pushed across two runs with a single to center before Ed Scott drove him in with a double to right center. Ural drove in a pair of runs later in the inning before Boies crushed a 3-run home run to right center, pushing the Tiger lead to six.
Adams State would not go away, the Grizzlies rallied for five runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth to regain control and a 12-10 lead.
After going scoreless in the fifth and sixth, the Tiger offense was down to their last chance in the home half of the seventh. Maldonado started the inning with a one-out single before Felton did the same to put the tying run on base. Nieves followed with a perfectly-placed bunt, loading the bases with only one out. Scott then delivered another big hit, tying the score with a two-RBI single through the right side.
After an intentional walk and a strikeout, it was all up to sophomore transfer Ural. With darkness creeping in, the bases loaded and the Tigers down to their final out, Ural came up clutch with a walk-off single to center to complete the win.
Nate Whitehill (1-0) picked up the win after striking out four batters over 3.0 innings on the mound. Holle, a redshirt-freshman, also struck out four in 3.1 innings of work in his Tiger debut.